Every pickleball game (unless you're playing singles) starts with three important numbers - 0-0-2! So, I suppose it makes sense that World Pickleball Day incorporates those numbers... 10-10-20__! In other words, October 10th of each calendar year is World Pickleball Day. The first ever World Pickleball Day was on Saturday, October 10th, 2020.
What is World Pickleball Day? And, why should World Pickleball Day matter to you?
World Pickleball Day is a day to celebrate the sport of pickleball with the objective to, according to the World Pickleball Federation, "establish pickleball as a game that is played across the world and not just North America." This means that World Pickleball Day is essentially a day to promote the sport of pickleball to the general public by promoting the sport to new players (with a specific goal for October 10th to bring in 10,000 new players across the world) and holding events to "raise the profile of pickleball worldwide."
World Pickleball Day should matter to you as a pickleball player. Because of pickleball, we all have more friends, we all belong to one friendly pickleball community, we are more physically active and fit, we are mentally sharper, and we just have a lot more fun! We know and live all of these great benefits every time we step onto the pickleball court. World Pickleball Day is a way we can promote and share these benefits with others that may certainly need pickleball in their lives. Further, by promoting pickleball to more people, we will be able to elevate the sport of pickleball, which can translate into any or all of the following:
- More courts! We all know that we need more dedicated, beautiful pickleball courts across the world.
- Better equipment and technology (for instance, a pickleball that doesn't crack)! With more players in the sport, businesses will invest more in pickleball, which means better equipment and technology for players.
- More opportunities! More players will translate to more opportunities to play the sport across the world, which could potentially, one day in the future, lead to marquee events like the Olympic Games.
Now, how will you be celebrating World Pickleball Day on October 10th?! We sure hope you will be out on a pickleball court, somewhere in the world.
Happy World Pickleball Day to all the Picklers out there!
